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Voting while incarcerated in Vermont

Vermont and Maine are the only two states that allow incarcerated people to vote. A new report tells us what is and isn’t working about ballot access in Maine and Vermont prisons.

Kristen Budd, a senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project, authored the report. Tim Burgess, executive director of VT CURE, voted in the 2006 and 2008 elections while he was incarcerated in Vermont. And Vermont's Secretary of State, Sarah Copeland Hanzas, is assembling a new task force to increase voter participation in four underserved populations, including the incarcerated.

Then: October is Substance Use Prevention Month. The Turning Point Center of Rutland runs a peer recovery coaching program for people in Vermont’s prisons who struggle with addiction. We’ll hear how the program’s going from Tracie Hauck, executive director of the Turning Point Center of Rutland.

Broadcast live on Monday, October 27, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Mikaela Lefrak is the host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here and Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Jon has spent his entire adult life working in broadcast journalism. He began his career in Baltimore at WYPR, and has since been a producer for WHYY, Vox, The Majority Report with Sam Seder, and The Talkhouse. Jon is a lifelong recording artist whose projects include Repelican, The Art Department, and Dungeonesse. He lives with his wife in Panton, Vermont.